In this study, the history of Islamic finance in Turkey is scrutinized by considering its development in the world through present and future projections.
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The YPG is the Syrian arm of the outlawed PKK that has been fighting against the Turkish state for years, so it is impossible for Ankara to accept any presence of these militants near its borders
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Ankara is getting ready for a military operation against the threat of a terror corridor on the Syrian border, dispatching military convoys to southern cities, hitting PKK/PYD targets in Afrin
If the US insists on supporting the YPG against Turkey's wishes, Syria's post-ISIL stability is going to be in peril.
The PKK faces an existential crisis of having unleashed hell on Turkey's Kurds, the organization finds it increasingly difficult to fuel nationalist sentiments by expanding its territory in Syria.
Last week, I discussed the three perceptions of threat regarding Islamic political parties and groups: they’re a threat to democracy, they’re a threat to Western interests, and they are violent.
Female students with headscarf are currently prevented to enter the university in Turkey although there is no legal ground for such a ban. The ongoing controversy about the type of clothing for female students at the higher education institutions has become more intensified since the recent constitutional change in February 2008 to lift the de facto headscarf ban. The debate over this question revolves around whether headscarf is a religious attire or a political symbol, whether it should be banned to protect the secular foundations of the state or conversely allowed on the basis of individual freedom of religion as a corollary of secularism. The solution lies in the implementation of constitutional amendments without a further delay.
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Since 1960, nineteen Standby arrangements have been signed. With these agreements, significant progress has been made in Turkish economy: inflation has fallen to the lowest level since 1986, the public debt-to-GNP ratio has been falling, and interest rates have declined rapidly. IMF’s immediate goals concern exchange rate stability and balance of payments, and evaluations of IMF programs tend to concentrate on these two objectives. Yet, whether or not the IMF programs have positive effects on these short-term goals, what ultimately matters is that they induce economic growth and do not concentrate on incomes.
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Turkey should recognize that the neighbors with which it will likely share its longest borders are not Syria and Iraq, but Kurdish political entities.
The elections will not end polarization in Turkish politics. In fact, this election should be seen as the first phase of the presidential elections of Aug. 10, 2014.